Hope for Immortals
by SilverCaladan
Summary: With peace comes those who are dedicated to disrupt it. But things change without reason, and even killers can obtain their own peace.... and for the seven, that day draws closer. DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue: Journey

** Edit 5/15/04 **  
**A/N:** The formatting on these has always bothered me, so I took the time to go back through and fix it.   
The invitation to flame still applies, as does the one to give constructive criticism.   
I also edited the small bits introducing Traveler and Wanderer; I felt I was tying down my characters too much, and so decided to make it a bit vaguer.  
P.S. I really, **_really _**hate this stupid fucking QuickEdit thing.  
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Now, look who's coming  
Yeah, look who's back  
Quick drop the bombshell straight to the track  
The 21st century killing machine  
Burnt on the inside,  
A five-headed team  
  
Now I'm not the same because you're not the same,  
Well you're not the same because I'm not the same,  
We're not the same, this could never be the same  
And we just wanna survive..._  
  
_Powerman 500 _--_ Bombshell_  
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_**Prologue: Journey**_  
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The public often call them gods and goddesses; the more informed know that they were once human. The once human part doesn't matter much, what matters now is that they control powers way beyond those of regular humans. A few still pass for human, preferring a mundane life despite their awesome powers. Others would like to live that life, but are unable to for some reason or another. And still others pretend that they were never human, but always immortal, and purposefully forget their mortal lives. Most have lived for so long as immortals that their humanity has been lost to them, buried beneath time and experiences.  
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These awesome powers were discovered in each immortal by accident. One day, they just woke up and they had powers. No strings attached. Every little kid's dream, right? However, there was one requirement that came sooner or later... service to whichever power decided that they deserved to be immortal. Most often, the person did great deeds while they were human. Sometimes, however, merely being related to another immortal when they were human is enough to discover powers. And some immortals... well, no one is quite sure why they have powers, but they do have them. Oh, the old religions still persist, as most of the new immortals try to avoid advertising for their works. They prefer living without the restrictions of having a full religion. As well, it is easier to work without having someone follow your every move and having to watch what you say every single second.  
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All immortals have a few common powers that come in largely varying degrees (paltry compared to the real beings of power), such as healing, telepathy, telekinesis and others along those lines. In addition to these common powers, each immortal has their own... specialties. But one of the only real powers in the worlds, the one who makes many of the decisions involving who receives immortality and who remains human... is Chaos. Entropy. Pandemonium. Disorder. But not evil. There are no such things as 'evil' or 'good'. Only Chaos and his opposite, Order. Each has their soldiers, and each has their 'pets'.  
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First in Chaos' army of minions are the five. The Dragon, The Guardian, The Silence, The Shadow, and The Fury.  
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Each contains a small part of Chaos within themselves, mainly so that the entity would not have to search them out and waste precious milliseconds of his time to order them around. Chaos wished its orders to be carried out without delay. Each was a killer at heart, despite outward appearances. But while a killer, it was the kernel of Chaos inside of them that brought this part to light and erased all the conditioning against murdering that they had built up. They may kill purely for joy, but they do not do so in excess. Too much death, then it becomes the norm, and there is order. Chaos does not like order, to put it mildly. So, at best, they are unpredictable. They delight in wars, they delight in peace. But their world fast became boring. There is only so much to do before everything becomes repetitive and has an order. The five were his pets, his babies, and for them to grow bored meant the destruction of complete dimensions in his quest for their happiness. And so the entity Chaos provided more for their entertainment.  
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The Wanderer and The Traveler were born. Chaos sifted carefully through all of the humans in that particular universe before he found the two that he could turn most easily to his ways and commands. While having lived a vaguely normal life, or as normal as one life could be in the mayhem that is humanity, these two were possessed of a certain kind of flighty soul that makes attachment nearly impossible. Instead, Wanderer and Traveler saw humanity as playthings to amuse their passing fancies. However, the fact remained that they were of a different breed of killer than the original five... these two belonged to the kind that has always preferred mind over matter; manipulation gives as much joy as torture, and seeing a well-laid trap play out to fruition is divine. But even with the advent of these new "activities", there was only so much to be done... so Chaos gave them something extra. It gave them the ability to travel between worlds, dimensions, universes, realities... all of it. Everything—_literally_—became their plaything. This ensured that his pets would never grow bored again, and they could spread his will across the multi-verse. After all, they now had eternity to mess around with.  
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The seven were good for each other. Never tiring of the killing, or of the saving, they continued on with their immortal lives. Leaping from world to world, from reality to reality, eventually leaving each behind when it grew boring. Each left behind as a mess. Each a perfect joy for their 'father'. Each eventually succeeded in regaining some measure of normalcy— if there is such a thing— only to be brought back into chaos by their own misdeeds and Order's failures. This continued on for countless millennia, until one day Wanderer tired of the endlessly alike universes. In a spate of boredom, all were transported to a place completely different from their current location. So quickly, that Chaos was not able to interfere. So quickly, indeed, that Wanderer had not fully made a decision on which universe to visit and tried to send all involved to two different universes at the same time. The pain resulting from this split of attention rendered Wanderer unable to correct the mistake, and so they continued on their course, between the two chosen dimensions.  
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And so the seven arrived, whole, in a previously hidden place. One that had been cloaked behind countless others, separate and beautiful, it was its own multi-verse, completely apart from that of Chaos' dwelling. This multi-verse existed in the emptiness of nothing between each universe of Chaos' dwelling, looking like empty space and therefore unable to be visited. It was by pure fluke that it happened to be in the exact spot between the two previously chosen universes. It also looked, once inside, outwardly similar to any other universe visited so far, and therefore, just as boring to the un-seeing eye. But the seven were unable to notice anything other than their own plight.  
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Deep down inside of each of them was a suddenly empty spot. The kernel that linked each to Chaos evaporated in the same way that Chaos' constant presence in their subconscious did. This sudden emptiness was so painful that each reached out to the others with the last of their minds, begging for a relief. If one's own healing powers could not deal, then reinforce them with the others' was the common thought. But all the mind contact between their fading minds did was increase the intensity of the pain beyond rational thought, so that only one thing was able to penetrate their pain saturated minds as they faded into the dark with one last power surge...  
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This world is horribly wrong...  
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	2. Never Wake Up

**Edit 5/17/04 **  
**A/N**: I changed my writing style right in the beginning of the chapter. It goes from 3rd person omniscient to something vaguely resembling 1st person. There may be some OOCness in Guardian but I tried to stick to his character. Still.... immortal experiences would definitely change a person.   
This fic _is _rated PG-13, so be sure that you want to read something of that level.   
My characterization, overall, was bothering me; the Greco-Roman gods had faults, and I felt like I hadn't given mine any, or, at least, none of any worth. So I changed the parts where Guardian was introduced. You will most likely want to re-read this chapter, as the change is promising to be a rather significant one, in terms of action.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_I might be left dead  
Side of the road  
Serves a place and time  
  
I plan on never waking up   
I plan on never waking up  
  
Sum 41 -- Never Wake Up_   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**_Chapter 1: Never Wake Up_**   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The wind played softly over the land and through the winding city streets, almost as if searching out one person in particular. Or in this case, nine particular persons. Whether or not the wind's message would be understood by those nine people was up to debate, but its message was not overwhelmingly important. Sooner is not always better than later... and there were plenty more chances to pick up on the power that the wind carried. The wind, which had become slight when compared to its strength at the source, whispered through the lush green leaves of a beautiful park in the throes of summer health. The disturbingly beautiful crinkling noise caught the attention of a slight girl lounging at the base of a tree. She was enjoying the lazy day in her own manner: reading a new thrilling horror story straight from the bookshelves. It was a drastic change from her normal reading material, but every now and then everyone must depart from normal. And for all she did not normally read this genre, it was quite enthralling to her senses. And so the unease that the wind created in her was dismissed as originating from the dark undertones of the novel. After all, the evil forces in this world had been dealt with, so what reason was there to worry? Unfortunately, peace dulls even the sharpest senses.  
  
  
But what about senses of another type? Could the power carried by the wind be detected by another? By this time, the wind had dispersed, having lost all power and direction, but the feeling that it carried remained, permeating the very air with apprehension. Another girl, a few miles away from the first, was engaged in her chores. Caught in a shaft of sunlight, she looked like a visitor from the distant past. Beautiful, aloof, and mysterious. Certainly useful qualities for a priestess of such an important shrine, the work was nonetheless hard. The temple grounds were expansive, and the visitors many, and not all visitors seemed to think the shrine above its share of litter. Plus there were fish to be fed, trees and flowers to be tended, customers to help, and floors to sweep. Any given day contained as much physical labor as spiritual or psychic. The apprehension in the air pressed on the senses of a few, such as this priestess, but she put down her lethargic depression and vague discomfort as exhaustion after a long, hot day. Her supernatural senses were no longer needed, so why pay attention to them? Peace dulls even the sharpest senses, be they physical or mental.  
  
  
The field outside of the city was not very large. In a land dominated by either forests or farms, unturned earth was rare. But this field was secluded inside of a forest, and should therefore be teeming with life. Birds whistling, crickets chirping, other animals rustling, perhaps even the wind blowing through the trees. But all that was heard was silence... an almost deadly silence. The birds and animals had all fled at the first shattering scream, leaving the seven collapsed humans to deal with their own problems. All were breathing with the deep slow rhythm of the unconscious and sprawled in various positions. Shimmering in the middle of the seven was the image of a young girl. Not much could be said of her appearance, for her substance was like the heat waves seen rising from the tarmac in the midst of summer, flowing and shimmering, never allowing a good glimpse. All that stood out was the contrast of dark hair and pale skin. The shimmer bent over the closest human and pulled back the hood from his face gently. She was repaid for this tremendous effort on her part to see the boy underneath the hood when he suddenly sat up through her body. It could not have been a pleasant experience for him, to move through her dream body immediately after regaining consciousness, but no where near deserving the howl of anguish that he released. The girl/shimmer instinctively reached out to comfort the sobbing boy, but she faded away into oblivion before even reaching his form.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The light shone brightly through the curtains and straight into Hotaru's eyes, waking her from what had been one of her oddest dreams in a while. It had all seemed so real, she mused while stretching out of her cramped position on the couch. "Have a good nap?" A light voice teased from behind the couch. It came so suddenly that it startled Hotaru right out of her thoughts.  
  
  
Hotaru smiled softly. "Yeah. Thank you for letting me crash on your couch."  
  
  
"Any time." Minako flopped down on the couch next to Hotaru. "Besides you looked so wiped out when I first saw you that there was no way I _wasn't _going to let you in. If you had tried to walk away I probably would have tackled you and tied you to the couch to get some rest." Minako grinned at the exasperated expression on Hotaru's face. "But you look much better now, so I don't think that I'll have to."  
  
  
"That's reassuring." Not. Minako had grown a lot in the past few years, but she hadn't lost that playful attitude yet. Some people dared to call it immaturity, but they were normally the spiteful types anyway. Hotaru liked that about Minako. She was serious so often that it was a nice change to have someone around who preferred to dwell on the good things in life. That included pranks, the kind that didn't hurt anyone but ended up being a laugh for all. She wouldn't put it above Minako to decide that she'd done something wrong and actually tie her to a chair or bed or something. Not that Minako had ever done that kind of stuff to her, but you never knew.  
  
  
"Something wrong?" Minako tilted her head and asked curiously. She had grown curious when Hotaru had just sat there staring at her silently for a few seconds.  
  
  
"No not really. Just thinking about some things." She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. "Minako?"  
  
  
"Mmmhmm?"  
  
  
"Have you ever been freaked out by something but aren't really sure why?"  
  
  
"Once or twice. Why?"  
  
  
"I had a really weird dream." Hotaru stared back out the window, trying to recapture the elusive beauty of that strange dream meadow.  
  
  
"Oh do tell." Minako practically vibrated with suspense.  
  
  
"I'm not too sure I can." Hotaru looked at Minako, a baffled expression on her face. "It was almost like the visions Rei used to have. There was very little color. I guess you could say that I wasn't really seeing but mostly feeling." She got up and paced back and forth a bit while Minako looked expectantly on. "I was in this grassy meadow somewhere in the woods, and I could feel the sunlight giving the place this most _beautiful _glow. It was so warm and cozy that I wish I could go there all the time. But... I couldn't enjoy the meadow. I just felt so... uneasy about something. I mean, this wasn't the type of place where something bad is, so it was really puzzling." She paused and glanced furtively at Minako to see how she was taking it. She was just sitting there nodding peacefully, probably understanding every other word, but now that Hotaru had started she couldn't, or wouldn't, stop talking. "So I looked around, wondering if anything or anyone was going to attack me suddenly like in nightmares." She paused for a second in both her pacing and talking to stare out the window again at the shafts of sunlight.  
  
  
She had apparently stopped too long for Minako, who wanted the story out since it was obviously making Hotaru highly agitated. She decided it was best to make her finish what she had begun. "What happened?" Minako prodded gently.  
  
  
"I... I don't really know. I saw a few dark shapes lying there on the light grass, and I guess I grew scared. They just felt... wrong somehow. As if they had the word 'trouble' written all over them in indelible ink. I didn't really want to look closely, but one of them shifted and I just couldn't help myself. I had to know why they were just lying there, and why they had such a bad feeling surrounding them. So I leaned over him. It took a lot of effort for some reason, but I managed to pull the hood back from his face."  
  
  
"His? It was a guy? Was he cute?" Minako interrupted. Hotaru just stared at her as if she was insane. Minako shrugged in self-defense. "I'm just trying to understand the story. The cute ones are _always _trouble." Then she grinned and gestured for Hotaru to continue.  
  
  
Hotaru thought over this for a bit and then continued a bit hesitantly. "Well, I wasn't thinking about it right then, and I don't really remember now what he looked like. Besides, his features were shrouded by that same feeling that meant trouble... I just remember his eyes. They were the only thing that showed through the murkiness." She stopped and looked at Minako. "I only got a glance at them, but they were the most vivid sapphire blue eyes I have ever seen. I don't think I will _ever _forget how hauntingly beautiful they were. Besides, that was the only color in the entire dream."  
  
  
Minako sighed. "If only he were real! I could try to hook you up with him. Or better yet, I could keep him for myself."  
  
  
"Even if he were real, I don't think he would be ready for a relationship anytime soon."  
  
  
"And why not?!" demanded Minako.  
  
  
"Because he was only unconscious, not dead. I must have woken him up when I touched him, as his eyes flickered open right as I lifted up the hood. Staring at nothing, he was. He... well he sat up and I felt really disoriented. It was _worse _than being in vertigo, so I'm not too sure what happened, but I think he sat up through me. I could still see his face though. It contorted into one of the most horrifying expressions I have ever seen." She fell silent for a bit, breathing in and out, slowly, as if she were trying to calm herself. "It was like something was tearing him up on the inside, trying to get out. Then he screamed. It... was so filled with pain that I really didn't hear the scream, just felt it, right here." Hotaru clutched instinctively at her chest and bit her lip. "I tried to hug him so I could send reassurance... but the light woke me up before I could reach him." She gestured to the beaming light that now highlighted Minako's pretty hair, shadowing her face.  
  
  
Minako took one look at the obvious distress Hotaru was in and pulled her into a tight hug. "It was just a dream, Taru. It's all over now." She said, using her pet nickname.  
  
  
"But it was so _**REAL**_!" Hotaru sobbed into Minako's shoulder. She had felt that boy's pain as if it were her own, magnified a thousand times over. No one should have to suffer that kind of pain, not even a figment of her subconscious. It was hard enough that she had gone through it once already, but she didn't wish it on anyone, not even her worst enemies. "It just hurt so much inside, it hurt so much more than anything I've ever gone through Minako..."  
  
  
"Shhh. It's okay. You have friends, family, hell, even a life now. We love you, Taru, _I_ love you, and you aren't alone anymore."  
  
  
"But the boy..."  
  
  
"Was probably just your subconscious remembering what you went through when you were younger. And you were strong through all of that, so you had to let out the pain some other way. Apparently, it chose your dreams. Did the scream sound intensely lonely?"  
  
  
"Yea... but I thought I was past this." Hotaru sniffled a little.  
  
  
"Taru, listen, you may have moved on, but the problems won't ever go away. They may pop up less and less as time goes on, but they never completely go away." Minako spoke with her own pain, the pain of experience. She too had experienced loneliness, and still had days where she just had so much trouble convincing herself that she was loved now. The past was the past and she had learned from it and moved on. But its ghosts still haunted her deep in the night. And so she let Hotaru cry, even if it was over a dream. Crying did wonders for the emotional well-being of a person. When the sobs had faded into little hiccups, Minako smiled down at Hotaru. "Feel any better?"  
  
  
Hotaru let out a tentative smile. "Yes. Thanks for listening to me, Mina. Sorry I got your shirt wet." And she pointed to the tear stains on Minako's teal shirt.  
  
  
Minako laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I'll just change and take you out for some ice cream. Does that sound good to you?" Hotaru nodded and Minako promptly left for her room. But again Hotaru's eyes were drawn to the sunlight streaming down outside. She didn't think she would ever forget the contrast of the peacefully glowing sunlight and the boy's pain all rolled into one.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
He didn't know how he'd gotten here, he didn't know why his head hurt so, and he sure as hell didn't know why he was covered in a _robe_. Worst of all, 'here' was out in the middle of nowhere, alongside a deserted stretch of road on the outskirts of a forest. Upon first awaking, the now dull ache in the back of his head had been painful beyond belief. In fact, he didn't even know why he had bothered to wake up at all. It was pointless. There was no one to ask for help, and the pain was constant and biting. The non- existence of unconsciousness seemed like bliss in comparison.  
  
  
Not that he could remember much before he had passed out and woken back up to the pain. Even what came after that first wave of pain was really fuzzy. The memory of waking up in the meadow was there, but then the pain hit, and when it had gone away he had been here, by the side of the road. He supposed he had wandered around looking for some sort of relief, for there were scratches on his legs from brambles, and the hem of his robe was torn.  
  
  
Why the hell was he wearing a robe anyways? He might not remember his past, but he remembered enough to know that normal people did _**NOT **_wear robes with concealing hoods. Not that he _felt _normal. The robe fit him so well and it just seemed so natural to hide his head behind the hood. Surprisingly, even with his head hidden he could see around him quite well. It was almost as if the hood was see-through... even though it most decidedly did not look see-through. The weave was tight, and it was a dark color. So why could he see through it? Yet another mystery to be unraveled as soon as that damn pain went away. Well one thing was certain, even if the robe was comfortable and familiar, it had to go. There was no way he was getting a ride with that crazy thing on. So he peeled it off and threw it back into the woods, not bothering to hide it or anything.  
  
  
His clothes underneath weren't so bad. Pleated khakis and a loose red button down shirt with what looked disturbingly like brown combat boots on his feet met his gaze. It was while twisting to look at his clothes that a car drove up. 'Course, he could hear it long before it came into view, courtesy of a very loud bass/speaker system.  
  
  
"Dude. You need a ride?" The blonde guy in the convertible turned down his music just enough so that he could be heard yelling.  
  
  
Despite the fact that the music was hurting his ears, there wasn't another car for probably miles around so... "Sure." He yelled back then hopped over the door into the passenger seat.  
  
  
"Hey! Watch the fucking paint job, man; its custom!" The guy glared at the boy who just held his hands up in the universal sign of surrender.  
  
  
"Sorry, I didn't know." He yelled back to pacify his only way out of nowhere.  
  
  
"Yeah, whatever." And with that the guy turned the music all the way up again and took off at high speeds down the deserted road.  
  
  
Ah crap. The throbbing bass line of the rock music was making the pain in his head throb to the same tempo. And he really didn't want the pain to start up again. He leaned over and yelled into the driver's ear. "Please turn off the music!"  
  
  
The guy turned to look at him in disbelief. "Why?!" He yelled back.  
  
  
"Because you can hear it in outer space!!" Outer space... now why did that ring a faint bell in the very back of his mind?  
  
  
"Dude! That's the point!!" And the driver smiled a goofy smile, turning back to his dancing at the wheel.  
  
  
"Whatever." He muttered, leaning back in his seat. It was hopeless to try to convince him. So he had to just sit it out and hope the headache didn't get worse. Rubbing his temple, a particularly fast song came on and made the pain throb even more. God why wouldn't it just fricken stop!!  
  
  
All of a sudden, the driver visibly deflated, and sighed, reaching over to turn off the music. "What the fuck." The driver hit the wheel a couple of times, obviously annoyed about something. "Dammit!" But he shook his head, sadly, and said "I don't want to blow the speakers..." The guy swore again and then turned off the to glare at his passenger, as if he were somehow responsible for their music predicament. He met the driver's gaze, calmly. The guy stared into his eyes for a bit, as if mesmerized, then blinked and turned back to driving. They drove in silence for a while with only the wind roaring in their ears, and the driver seething while the guy stared, with forced nonchalance, out the side window, carefully avoiding the gaze of his driver. The guy had turned off the music, despite being vehemently against it when asked earlier. Cool.  
  
  
"So where you headed?" The question came so suddenly it didn't register in his mind.  
  
  
"What?"  
  
  
"I asked you where you were headed, dumbshit."  
  
  
"Oh." The boy mouthed it. "You know, I'm not really sure. Wherever you want to take me, I guess."  
  
  
"Yea, well, I'm headed back to campus so I'll drop you off there." Another spate of silence ensued. "Name's Kurt." The driver said randomly to the guy. He remained silent, thinking on the topic of his own name.  
  
  
He wasn't even aware that he had replied to Kurt. "Guardian."  
  
  
"What the _fuck _kinda name is _'Guardian'_?!"  
  
  
Guardian blinked at Kurt in confusion for a few long seconds. But he quickly schooled his expression into a blank one, and replied dispassionately, "Only one I can remember." In truth, he was close to blowing off the driver and just hopping out. Maybe scratching the paint job while he was at it.  
  
  
"It's a fucking—"  
  
  
"Dude, just shut the hell up and fucking drive already."  
  
  
"Whatever, man. Whatever."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Kurt had dropped him off, somewhat sullenly, on this street in the middle of a city that was surrounded on both sides by shops and mobbed by people. Then he had driven off angrily and dangerously, cutting off several cars and almost running over two girls who had been trying to cross the street. Guardian had laughed to himself when he saw that; it would have been funny if he had run them over. Woulda served the guy right.  
  
  
But what wasn't funny was that Guardian still didn't recognize anything around him. And Kurt, the jackass he was, hadn't even bothered to tell him the name of the city. So here he was, in the middle of some random city, with no memories whatsoever, no way to get them back, and no way to support himself. It was turning out to be a _beautiful _life. At least the headache had gone away, but it had left him drained and unfeeling. And with that particular pain's disappearance, he had noticed other, more natural, pains. Hunger was the dominant one. But that could be easily fixed, and he could always skip out on the check. Or maybe they would feel sorry for him and instead give him a job. Either way, he was hungry, and a little thing like not having money wasn't going to stop him.  
  
  
Guardian looked around, and noticed a nice little café with a sidewalk patio. Its quaint red umbrellas and stands of pansies were somehow attractive. Plus it didn't look too expensive, and judging from the amount of people populating it, the food was good. So he walked in and was immediately pounced upon by a waiter.  
  
  
"How many in your party, sir?" Guardian just blinked at him for a few seconds, not really understanding what he had been asked. "Sir?"  
  
  
Then he mentally kicked himself. Come on, play the part, don't act weird or he'll keep an eye on you. "It's just me."  
  
  
"Patio or lounge?"  
  
  
Lounge? This place didn't look big enough or fancy enough to have a lounge. "Patio, if you would."  
  
  
"This way, sir." Guardian followed him, avidly looking at his fellow customers. Maybe one of them would feel pity and pay his bill.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Even with Minako claiming to be fast at changing her clothes, it took her an hour to pick out another shirt that she would like. Turned out that she had enough clothes to have a different outfit every day of the year... and probably on purpose. But it was amusing and comforting for Hotaru to watch this simple act, so she didn't complain. Rather, she laughed when Minako finally settled on one of the first orange tank-tops she had tried on. Then she had tackled Hotaru. "Sweetie, you look like a mess! Just let me brush out your hair. Please?" Then had commenced a refreshing game of cat-and-mouse, with Hotaru jumping out of reach of the laughing Minako until she finally jumped over the back of the couch and on top of Hotaru.  
  
  
Hotaru hit playfully up at Minako from her position underneath. "You should go join a football team with a tackle like that."  
  
  
Minako tapped her lips thoughtfully. "You know, I just might... as a cheerleader!"  
  
  
Hotaru smiled involuntarily at the unexpected joke. "If I let you brush my hair, then can we go get some ice cream?"  
  
  
"Don't forget the shopping!"  
  
  
"We're going shopping too?"  
  
  
Minako fake scowled at Hotaru from her position of on top of her. "Of course we are. Shopping is _very _therapeutic. And I'll spot you for money, don't worry."  
  
  
"Minako, you don't have to do that..."  
  
  
Minako leaned close and whispered, "I'm your friend remember. F-r-i-e- n-d. We do these things." Then she stood up and pulled Hotaru up into a sitting position. "Now, let's hurry; I want to get to the stores while everyone else is eating."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hotaru smiled as Minako, again, had to adjust her three bags. "This is why I only bought two shirts." Hotaru pointed out.  
  
  
"Just because you don't have to adjust your bags every two seconds doesn't mean you're smart. It just means you're cheap." Minako smiled gaily at Hotaru to take the sting out of her words.  
  
  
Hotaru just shook her head in disbelief, and then the light they were waiting for changed color. She started across, pulling on one bag to get Minako to follow her. All those restaurants smelled so good that Hotaru was having trouble choosing which one they should go to, for their ice cream trip had turned into a lunch and shopping trip. She ignored the sound of dropping bags behind her, and continued walking. Then everything sped up, and the hard jerk on her shoulder came at almost the same time as the squealing tires. Hotaru flew backwards onto Minako, breathing hard from a somewhat late adrenaline rush, and watching the insane driver speed away down the street. "Oh my _**God**_; Hotaru, are you okay?! That _bastard _almost ran you over!" Minako helped Hotaru shakily onto her feet.  
  
  
"I think I'll be okay. What happened?"  
  
  
"I don't know, I just saw the guy roaring straight at us out of the corner of my eye, and just reacted. Lucky you hadn't walked too far out of my reach."  
  
  
Hotaru smiled genuinely at Minako. "Thanks a lot. That's all you seem to be doing today."  
  
  
"What?"  
  
  
"You've been helping me all of today."  
  
  
"Oh, well that's a really big change." Then Minako grinned widely. "I'm sure I'll have a bad day soon at which time you can be my rescuer." Minako's stomach interrupted her musing with a big growl. She looked down, embarrassed, and then said "Guess we should get out of the street and get some food huh?"  
  
  
"How 'bout that one?" Hotaru pointed to a café with pretty orange and yellow pansies and gathered up Minako's errant bags.  
  
  
"Lead the way." Minako grabbed her two of her bags and rushed off the street. "See, you're already helping me out."  
  
  
Hotaru smothered a grin, and marched with an icy look to the waiter behind the counter. "Patio for two, please."  
  
  
He blinked at the tiny girl and then at the girl behind her for a second, then seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. "This way, please."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Guardian had just finished one of the most filling meals in what felt like a long time. The food was kind of plain, but it tasted wonderful. But just then the waiter walked up beside him and laid down the check. Guardian groaned, his good mood ruined, and caught the waiter's eye before he left. "How would you prefer I pay?" He asked politely while thinking quite hard about a way to get out of paying.  
  
  
Surprisingly, and definitely to Guardian's advantage, the waiter told him, "Don't worry about the bill. I'll pay it for you."  
  
  
"Really? Thank you very much." He said with profuse gratitude.  
  
  
"No problem." And the waiter took the check and drifted off in a sort of confusion.  
  
  
Guardian smiled radiantly at his good fortune and left the restaurant, only to wander around wondering what he should do next.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Minako squealed randomly right after the waiter had left them alone with their drinks. "Did you see that really hot blonde guy we walked past on the way out here?"  
  
  
Hotaru swiveled around in her chair, looking this way and that down the sidewalk. "No. What did he look like?"  
  
  
Minako grinned. "I can't believe you missed him! He had the most gorgeous tousled blonde hair, blue eyes, and was completely built underneath that red shirt of his." Minako started drooling, and Hotaru was tempted to join in, but she just grinned.  
  
  
"You should have gone after him, Minako."  
  
  
This comment stopped Minako's drooling. She shook her head in denial. "Nah, he was **_really _**cute to be sure, but I'm spending time with you, Hotaru."  
  
  
This made Hotaru smile involuntarily and feel warm inside. Minako really had changed a lot from her younger age. She loved her friends just as much, but time and experience had lessened her boy-craziness somewhat. Hotaru was glad that she had made the effort to become better friends with all the Senshi. It had made her branch out more, and she had actually enjoyed it.  
  
  
"Oh, did you hear about Makoto's latest boyfriend?"  
  
  
"No. Tell me." And Hotaru sat there, enjoying the experience of having friends; which she appreciated even more with her dream last night of being all alone.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Another Nightmare About to Come True

**Edit 7/07/04 **  
**A/N**: This chapter was significantly shorter than any of the others, so I felt a need to lengthen some of the scenes in addition to fixing the continuity problems I invoked by changing my own universe.   
Again, the invitation to flame still applies... that is, if you managed to make it this far into my story.   
Note – I used American currency in this, as I am not familiar with the current exchange rate or appearance of Japanese yen and would not want to completely butcher such an important aspect of living.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_Lost in time, on the edge of suffering   
Another taste of the evil I breed   
Will level you completely   
Bring to life everything that you fear   
Live in the dark, and the world is threatening  
  
Disturbed -- Prayer_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_**Chapter 2: Another Nightmare About to Come True**_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
All of a sudden, he was aware. He was aware of razor-edged grass rubbing against his face, of his hands clenched tightly around his head, of his clothes absorbing and holding the heat of the sun close to his body. Right in that moment of hyper-awareness he knew everything that was going on around him and understood it completely; but the awareness was immediately followed by a blinding pain that completely erased any leftover knowledge from the moment before.  
  
  
  
He screamed in an instinctive reaction to the pain, then bit down suddenly on it, determined not to show any sign of the pain circulating through his system. The unexpected coppery taste flooding his mouth was enough to shock the agony away by evoking another reaction. He retched. The blood glistened wetly red on the healthy green grass, but the retching had no effect other than getting rid of the blood in his mouth. He was glad for that blessing, as he did not want to sting his tongue with anything other than saliva. But no matter how much the stomach acid would have stung, it did not come close to the pain he had forced, with a great expenditure of will, into the back of his mind.  
  
  
  
Blood ceased dribbling from his mouth. He wiped a crimson smear from his lips, balancing on his knees and left hand. The smell was quite addicting to his senses, and there was quite a bit there on the ground, soaking into the earth, evaporating into the air. Enough so that his tongue shouldn't be attached at all. Especially the strength that he had been biting with suggested that he should be missing at least the tip of it. But there it was, in his mouth, whole, sore, and with only a medium sized slice on the top, pulsing rather uncomfortably. Luck seemed to be on his side, even if health wasn't.  
  
  
  
A rustling noise penetrated his hearing, and he swiveled warily towards that noise. There, propped up against a tree, was a person wearing a robe. The robe was spread out, and the person inside was barely moving. He stood up shakily and staggered towards the other person whom he had yet to see make any sort of move. Kneeling by the person, he managed to spit out, in a gravely voice due to his dry throat and damaged tongue, "Are you okay?" The irony of that question did not escape him; for in all likelihood, he was more injured than this person _ever _could be. It sure felt that way, anyway. But it was much easier to just ask the person if 'he' were okay then have to search for the signs of it.  
  
  
  
There was no reply. Not even a shifting of body weight or lifting of the head to acknowledge that he had spoken. But this person was obviously awake and moving, for there was nothing else around that could have made that rustling noise, not even wind. It had sounded too much like the crinkling of fabric to have been the wind. So he reached and gingerly pulled the hood back from the person's head. From beneath the hood appeared a head of brown hair, pulled back and braided loosely. The person still didn't tilt their head back to look at him. So he did the deed himself, not noticing the red he accidentally left on the chin. There, in the middle of what was now obviously a male face, were two completely empty eyes. They were barely tracking his movements, and showed absolutely no comprehension of what was actually being seen. Nevertheless, he had to try to get a response one more time. "Hello?"  
  
  
  
The guy didn't even blink. Carefully laying the guy's wrist down, he sat back and stared at the enigma. He was breathing normally, had a good pulse, and could obviously move when pushed too, but nobody was home. It was extremely annoying. There was absolutely no reason for the withdrawal from the world to be so bad. Even more annoying was the fact that this guy evoked a familiarity within him, one that he could not quite remember. It was probably that damn pain's fault. Suddenly, it clicked. The pain. If he had it, then it would make sense for anyone who was with him here in the clearing to have it too. The pain had probably made the guy withdraw completely from the world, if it was indeed the same exact experience. Goodness knew that he had almost succumbed to it as well. _Dammit_, that meant that it might happen again... to him, this time. He remembered nothing about what caused the pain, whether it had something to do with this damnable clearing, some random person who had left them for dead, or some genetic thing that both he and this guy had. Whatever had caused it, it was powerful enough to wipe his memory completely and reduce this guy to an almost catatonic state. He glanced around the clearing, looking for any sort of movement that might indicate the presence of any sort of danger or even another person he had forgotten. There was none.  
  
  
  
The real question was, what to do now? Just the two of them, in an empty clearing, in the middle of what looked like a forest. They would never be found unless they moved. But moved where? He had no idea in which direction to go. Civilization could be anywhere! He couldn't even count on someone coming to look for them, because he didn't even know the situation that had landed them here. It was probably best to just try not to move at all. This was a clearing, so if anyone flew over they could see down. Moving the guy on the ground probably wasn't the best of ideas either, but he wasn't inclined to let that stop them from getting out of here. Then again, there was no sign of water around the clearing, and dying of thirst did **_not _**seem like one of the better ways to go.  
  
  
  
They were moving, and in whichever way seemed the clearest and thus the easiest. That guy couldn't be light, and he didn't look like he was going to get up and walk off on his own anytime soon. Hoisting the guy to his feet and draping an arm across his shoulder cost him a lot of precious energy as well as some judicious juggling. It was going to cost him even more to drag him through the forest. But never once did he consider leaving the guy there to fend for himself. It would take a huge monster, injustice, or evil to leave an obviously disabled guy to fend for himself in the woods. He would surely die if he were left alone, and it would take someone with a great resistance to guilt or fairness of any kind to leave him. Anyway, he was familiar, and if he seemed familiar, he wasn't going to be left behind.  
  
  
  
So they took off through the forest, one supporting the other whose feet worked well enough even if his mind didn't.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It was here that Guardian was to spend his night. Some cheap dirty motel so far on the wrong side of the tracks it made you wonder if there was such a thing as daylight. It seemed as if any activities were opposite here than at normal places; the most activity occurred at night, and everything was silent during the day. It made for some annoyances, but easier for Guardian to slip out without paying. Indeed, the only reason he could afford to stay in this cheap dump tonight was because of something he was more willing to call a random chance than anything else. Some long- haired blonde girl in a flashy vinyl 'outfit' had grabbed onto his arm and wrapped it around herself as he had wandered through the neighborhood. Then she had whispered in his ear while he stood there, dumbfounded, and wondering how he had managed to get himself a trophy. "You get me into that club there and I'll pay you. Handsomely." Guardian glanced at her rather distastefully, annoyed that his personal space had been invaded. After all, what kind of guy wanted a slut with plastic boobs? They'd probably melt from too much body contact.  
  
  
  
A hurt expression crossed her face, but she slowly unwound herself from his grasp. "Well, if you don't want to..." Her soft voice had trailed off, and in her defeated state she looked much younger than her actions had suggested.   
  
  
  
Guardian looked her up and down, feeling the slightest stirrings of a feeling he wasn't sure he could identify. But as much as he hated the idea of coupling with a floozy to get some money, it couldn't hurt to just get her into the club. He grabbed her hand as she tried to wander away down the sidewalk, as if in shock from not getting her way. "How much money are you offering?"  
  
  
  
She blinked at him for a bit, then managed to organize her thoughts and reached into her shirt. Guardian looked carefully, watching what she was reaching for. He was mildly surprised to note that what seemed to be padding her shirt were not breasts at all, but rather a lot of twenty dollar bills. No wonder he had thought her chest was manmade; it was filled to brimming with life-saving currency. "Is sixty enough?"  
  
  
  
"Make it a Ben Franklin and you've got a deal." He tightened his grip on her fingers, pointlessly, as her face had already established her glee at his acceptance.  
  
  
  
She nodded, slipping up close and depositing money in his back pocket. "Sixty now, forty more when you get me past the doors."  
  
  
  
Guardian shrugged. He could easily slip out the back doors, but he felt rather uncomfortable with the girl so close. Still, if the bouncer were going to let them past as a pair, they had to look the part. So he slid his arm cautiously around her shoulders, and pulled her even closer to him. She giggled, and twined herself around his muscular body, staring up adoringly into his almost panicky gaze. How the hell was he supposed to walk with her clinging to him as if they were some sort of Siamese twins?  
  
  
  
Staggering forwards, he watched, almost in shock, as the girl adjusted her stride to match his rather large one, and helped to support him. It appeared that she, at least, knew how to walk even while sticking close enough that she became some sort of grotesque tumor. It also appeared that he was drunk... but at least he had someone to help support him, unlike some of the bums he had passed exiting the club. The bouncer took one glance at how old Guardian looked in his khaki's and button-down shirt (not to mention the sharp gaze) and had spent the rest of the time staring avidly at the girl's bare parts before Guardian pulled her roughly past.  
  
  
  
He jerked to a stop, though, upon sighting the sea of humanity. The heads were bobbing wildly up and down as if floating on storm-tossed waters, the lights flashed disjointedly and randomly—threatening to cause seizures in anyone that watched them too long—and the music throbbed so loudly that Guardian wondered how, possibly, the streets outside weren't shaking apart, much less the club itself. The girl's hand felt around in his back pocket again, supposedly depositing a wad of money, but when she withdrew her hand, Guardian took it as permission for him to leave (quickly) through the nearby side exit.  
  
  
  
Startled when his hand didn't follow the rest of his body, he looked back to see the girl holding onto it for dear life, and tugging on her blonde hair like a pouting child. She mouthed at him, almost wistfully and with the most innocent expression, "Dance with me?"  
  
  
  
And so he had. Allowing her to lead him out on the dance floor was one of the most nerve-wracking things he could think of doing, yet he found himself unable to refuse the floozy out of concern; better that she stuck with him than get picked up by a murderer. The pulsing rhythm was kind of hard to miss, but while Guardian was content to rock back and forth in time to the music, clutching the girl and rubbing accidentally against other very sweaty clubbers, she twined herself around him, gyrating and grinding against him. The pleasure building up inside his body from the girl's ministrations both disgusted and intrigued him, and the constant procession of women trying to cut in between them was actually extremely amusing in their own way... especially considering this slut of a girl weaving herself around him had somehow managed to dissuade all of the other admiring women from doing anything other than glare from nearby. They were glowering mostly at her, over their shoulders or over their partner's shoulders. But she seemed completely oblivious to it, other than occasional "accidental" scratches, and had spent all that time either staring into his eyes or doing things to him that he wouldn't protest, but wasn't quite sure were appropriate. But for once he shut up and enjoyed it. After all, considering all that he had already let her get away with, it would be rather rude to just walk away and leave her alone.  
  
  
  
An indeterminate amount of wild dancing and alcohol later, the club closed, effectively kicking out all of its patrons onto the streets. Thoroughly exhausted now, Guardian let the girl pull him by the hand through the front doors, past the leering bouncer (whom Guardian leered right back at; highly amused when the bouncer averted his gaze with a disturbed expression. Couldn't take his own medicine, apparently), and into the side alley, which was conspicuously empty. She pulled a pen out of seemingly nowhere, leaving her number on his arm in sloppy handwriting. Winking, a wad of bills appeared in her hand, and she tucked it playfully into his waistband. He wasn't sure if he should be insulted by her giving him more money as if he were a gigolo in a bar that had just had his services appreciated, or just take the damn money and go find a place to sleep. Guardian eventually decided that not even his guilt over taking the money and revulsion about being a play object would tempt him out of a room to sleep in; besides, that girl was a once in a lifetime thing, and he was going to make it a point to never call her number. So he had turned in the opposite direction the girl had strutted in and walked. From behind him had come the sound of things falling to the pavement, but it had only caught his interest because it sounded like someone had tripped over someone else. Moronic clumsy clowns posing as people, Guardian had thought to himself as he walked away and eventually ended up here, in front of this dump.  
  
  
  
Guardian shook his head and pushed his way past a pimp and his underdressed whores to get inside the building where he promptly paid forty-five dollars for a room for the week. Even the key to the room was broken, but the room itself was surprisingly clean. He guessed the hotel cleaned it well so that more people would come back to do their business... No, don't think about that. Just sleep. And so Guardian lay down in the bed (the mattress was firm, but the sheets were thin) and tried not to think himself to sleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
He laid the guy down to rest for the third time in what seemed the past hour. He was heavy, and his randomly moving feet weren't much help in holding him up. His brain hadn't woken up at all during their little jaunt through the woods. Surprising really, because he had accidentally run the guy through branches and bushes galore. It was really hard to maneuver an extra body that he wasn't used to having through thick underbrush. But the guy had faired fairly well at least in physical health... despite the fact that nothing had woken him up. So he spread out the guy next to a tree root and slumped down beside him.  
  
  
  
It was getting dark. Well, it had been semi-gloom for a while now as the trees were too thick to let much light through. But now with the sky fading it turned into night sooner than it should have. They had come a long way, but they had yet to find civilization, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to stop here. A lot of good the worry of stopping would do him, for if they did try to continue he was likely to break a leg or lose the other guy down a ravine or something. No, as much as he hated the idea, they had to stay here for tonight. And he might as well try to sleep... maybe sleep would give him a break from the gnawing hunger in his belly that had not disappeared with the random nuts he had been able to find and eat. Rather, those nuts had just reminded him of how hungry he was. But one good way to escape that was sleeping, provided he could squash down or ignore the hunger long enough to actually _fall _asleep. So he leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to dull his ears to all the natural rustling sounds in the background.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Death. The screams of the dying still rang loud through her head, echoing and screaming a warning with their last breaths. But the warning was in vain, she couldn't understand what they were trying to show her. All she had seen was red, blood red swirling around her as if she were in a twisted, psychopathic whirlpool. The screams were nothing new to her dreams, but that did not mean that they disturbed her any less. The last time she had heard screams in her dreams had resulted in the world almost collapsing. That dream was eerily similar in an undecipherable way, but the problem it had warned of had been dealt with, but this new, distressing dream had enough remembered differences that she couldn't figure it out. She was suffering under so much of a sensory overload from the panicked state that she had awoken in that she could barely think with her own consciousness at all. Flashes of black appeared against the red quickly... images of the people who were screaming out their tortured souls into hers as they died in the dreamscape. Most of them had passed onto the next plane in rather gruesome and macabre ways, but an overwhelming number of them had died in unusual or freak accidents. None of them had died the exact same way, so there wasn't a serial killer or someone who was leaving their mark doing this. It seemed completely random. The dream made absolutely no sense from the information that she had. Life was peaceful, evil had been defeated. These things should NOT be happening again... if they even were. Perhaps she was just imagining it. She had read a murder novel recently, so perhaps her subconscious was playing tricks and imagining different ways that the murder could have been committed. But why the multitudes of people, then? Why the carelessness and indifference to not being caught shown in the murders?  
  
  
  
Rei ran a hand across her forehead and discovered that she was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. The night was warm and made her room stuffy, so the sweat made her uncomfortable. She opened the screen noiselessly and slipped out to sit on the porch, hoping some fresh air would stimulate her mind and cool her off somewhat. The stars were beautiful, but the lush trees loomed up out of the darkness and their branches moved restlessly. Nature was trying to tell her something and it couldn't seem to get its message across no matter what it did. The dream was haunting her, especially the colors and the expressions, making her see things that couldn't possibly be there. Like the darkness and emptiness of the trees. Sunlight had showed them earlier to be lush, verdant, and the embodiment of summer. The underlying horror of knowing something was happening, or at least capable of happening in her mind, ruined even these few peaceful, too peaceful, moments that had in the end made her more upset than she had been when she woke up. Those screams... she still heard them, as if from far away. Rei hoped that they wouldn't haunt her for too much longer, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to replace them with...  
  
  
  
She shook her head, her hair spilling over her shoulders with that violent movement, as she tried to get her mind off of this destructive looping track. Coming out here on the porch was supposed to make her more at peace, but had instead riled her up more. Rei stood up with a sudden decision that could work either way; to make her either more worried or to put her at ease. She was going to go meditate in front of the fire. At the very least, even if a vision decided not to appear in front of her, the fire always soothed her. It was so mesmerizing in its crackling and movement that it was almost impossible to do anything but get caught up in it. The only setback was that it was uncomfortably hot in that room, but Rei almost always forgot about that one discomfort in the face of the almost nirvana of meditation.  
  
  
  
Indeed, the fire relieved her fears somewhat by mesmerizing her. She sat there, and watched the flames go back and forth, burning away at the oxygen in the air and crackling in a symphony that had been praised throughout the evolution of humanity. But even the fire had an air of urgency. Rei couldn't sense that urgency, because she had blocked herself to it, preferring to see only what she wanted to see and not what her psychic senses were capable of showing her. The fire had tolerated this attitude of wanting to be a normal girl long enough, and a vision grabbed her with such suddenness she didn't even have time to gasp. It had been so long since she had had a vision that her mind panicked, and wasn't able to take in much of what was appearing. And what she was able to receive through her panic, and slightly understand, was of poor quality too.  
  
  
  
Everything was moving around and around, as if Rei were drunk and the world didn't want to conform to her standards. The panic made her breathe shallowly and this lack of oxygen combined with the ever-changing landscape left her mind spinning in its own unpredictable directions. She staggered through the landscape, trying to find some sort of stable patch to focus on, and came upon two brown splotches that kept stretching and contracting as she watched in confusion. Then, she was back in her own room so abruptly that it had the equivalent effect on her as jumping into a pool in the middle of February. Not even sitting this close to the fire was doing anything to stop Rei's uncontrollable shivering and nausea.  
  
  
  
What the hell just happened? Rei managed to stop her shivering through a sheer force of will, but the feeling of nausea didn't go away. She stood up shakily to go find a phone, or medicine, or _something_, trying not to do anything that might set off her stomach. As soon has she had turned out of the door to the right, her nausea just disappeared, evaporating into thin air quicker than she could blink. Eyes narrowing with suspicion, Rei turned back around and headed the opposite way. The now obviously artificial nausea reappeared in the pit of her stomach.  
  
  
  
It was trying to steer her. The heavens only know where this... after- vision... was taking her. Knowing the fates as she did didn't reassure her at all, but rather made her more uneasy. Whatever it was that it was trying to get her to see, it could wait until she had some sort of backup. It wouldn't do to go in blind even if she was stronger than she had been so long ago; Rei had learned the lesson of teamwork well over the years. But which of the former senshi was free, in town, and wouldn't panic?  
  
  
  
Ami. Ami didn't panic, and Ami would keep Rei from doing anything that might risk her health. Not that this nausea wasn't making her health go out the window. Ami wouldn't like to be woken up this early in the morning though... if she could just last a few more hours then she wouldn't alarm Ami anymore than she had to. Just think of it as a test of character, Rei told herself. You can pass this test easily. Just go lie down facing the right way and it should go away. She walked down the patio aiming for her room, walking gingerly and thinking these words over and over like a mantra.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Heaven Smiles Above Me

A/N: ow. Typing hurts. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out; school, love life, school, school and then a freak boating accident plus school have kinda made me unable to write. Oh I know what to write... I just have no way to get it down without time or pain. So.... long time. Lol. Anyways, I wrote three other fics for you guys to whet your teeth on, and it helped improve my writing style as well, so hopefully this chapter will be better. Eh, I hope you guys think this chapter is worth it. I think it is... but now I'm gonna go take a nap and hope my ribs stop hurting and my hands stop shaking.  
  
The song inspiring this chapter is No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age. Okay, so I won't lie. It wasn't so much the reallllly cool song as the music video that made me think of this chappie... go check it out if you haven't seen it yet ^_^  
  
I love you Vee! You do a great beta, and I absolutely love brainstorming with ya twin :)  
  
Oh... sorry for the really long author's notes. I just feel like you guys might actually want to know all of this and I like listening to myself anyways. So Firefly of Blue, who is one of my best friends ever, actually drew fanart for this fic. It's beautiful! *starry eyes* but we can't find a way to get it online *cries*. So if we ever do, be rest assured that I would give you the link.  
  
p.s. I promised Sue I would get this next chapter out after writing the first chapter of Flying Black and so here I am... writing like crazy. And I was so tempted to turn that list into the song from the beginning of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but that would have just been stupid. On another note, fresh air does *wonders* for nausea. Especially wind or a fan. Trust me. Lol, I like this chapter a lot. Course, a few of you might kill me... but that's okay ^_^  
  
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"Hello. You have reached the apartment of Ami Mizuno, who is currently unable to answer the phone. So please leave a message after the tone and I'll try to call you back later." The tone beeped and Rei began to talk desperately into the mike. Her stomachaches had been getting worse and worse and she didn't think she could last much longer without trying to do something.  
  
"Ami? Please, I know you're there. Please, pick up. I know we haven't talked in a while but I really need to talk to you now. Ami, pick up. Come on Ami find the phone I need to."  
  
"Rei?" Ami's breathy voice interrupted Rei's rambling. "Are you okay? You really don't sound good. Have you been sleeping at all?" Ami chided Rei; believing that Rei had merely neglected to watch after herself as she had so many times over the past years. She remembered quite a few nights in their last year of high school in which even Usagi had pulled all- nighters... though they hadn't done much for her. Now that they had gone their separate ways (college, jobs, loves, whatever) Rei might still have that habit for all Ami knew.  
  
Rei grimaced. That wasn't the reaction that she was looking for. "I couldn't sleep last night but I should be okay. But Ami." and she trailed off, not quite sure how to broach the subject of needing help after not talking for so long. It would sound like she didn't miss Ami at all and only took advantage of her... something that was always to be avoided when dealing with Ami.  
  
Ami's voice grew even more worried. It was not like Rei to act this way. Normally she was forward and aggressive and didn't hesitate to spit something out. "Rei its okay you didn't call before. I have had time to call but I didn't bother either. Tell me what's bothering you before we both get frustrated."  
  
"Nothings bothering me." The defensiveness was very clear in her voice.  
  
Sighing in exasperation, for Rei was always unwilling to admit any weaknesses of hers, Ami prodded with her words. "You were pleading with my answering machine. That doesn't give the impression that you have everything under control. Now what's wrong?"  
  
Rei suppressed the slight smile that had appeared with Ami's own stubbornness. "I had a vision." She stated simply.  
  
Ami's voice immediately changed from that of worried friend to worried 'soldier'. "Is there a new enemy? What did you see?"  
  
Rei wasn't so sure she liked her problems being immediately looked over like that, but all her visions before had mostly dealt with new enemies so... "I'm not quite sure. It was always moving and I just got a sense of urgency towards finding... something. But it left me with this horrible feeling of nausea deep in the pit of my stomach that only goes away when I turn a certain way. I... I think it's trying to drive me somewhere. And I didn't want to follow it unless I had someone to back me up. Ami... would you do that for me?"  
  
"You want me to take you to some random place that you think the pain in your stomach is leading you to because of the first vision you've had in a while." There was silence on both ends. "I'll be right over." Ami sighed openly and then cut off Rei's gasp of relief with another sentence. "We're going in blind with no backup?"  
  
"Actually I was hoping you would be my backup."  
  
Ami snorted, but Rei could hear the agreement in her voice when she spoke. "Some backup. Still, it's better to not scare everyone else yet. I mean, we don't even know what we'll find wherever this place is." Rei made one of those sounds that is halfway between a grunt and a word and is usually interpreted as yea. "So when do you want me to come over?"  
  
"Now."  
  
"I'll be over as soon as I get dressed and grab a quick breakfast."  
  
"Oh don't talk about breakfast...makes me sick."  
  
Ami grinned. "Bye Rei. Don't die until I get there."  
  
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The crawling sensation all over his body brought his mind slowly out of a comfortable hole and into what he presumed to be the real world. Groaning slightly, for with the real world had come a throbbing pain, he tried to force his sleep-glued eyes open. Not much luck there; he must have been out a while. Nose twitching since a crawling spot had migrated there; he finally managed to open one eye. Looming on top of his nose was something with pincers. "Holy crap!" Sitting up, he took to brushing frantically at his own face, to get the thing off. Almost immediately upon moving, the crawling sensations all over turned into sharp stinging pains. A single bite would not have been horrible, but so many overrode even the throbbing sensation in his head.  
  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..." the litany ran on and on as he brushed frantically at his body through the robes, trying to get the damn things off. But the stupid things wouldn't come off of their own accord and even when hit repeatedly it took some force to make them come off. Thus his search for some sort of relief began. The stumbling walk could be easily compared to a hop, and it would have been comical if the guy hadn't been in such pain. Eventually he tripped over a root and fell face-first into a deep pond.  
  
The sluggishly cool water drowned the ant-like things and soothed his bites, and he floated peacefully in it for a moment, delighting in the feeling of being free of gravity. Until his robe dragged him down to the bottom and he got covered in squishy silt. Struggling out of the heavy muddy robe took a long time. Clothing, especially loose clothing, is almost impossible to maneuver when wet because it becomes so heavy. It took forever... yet he didn't have to breathe. It'd been several minutes, and he hadn't needed to breathe at all! That wasn't natural. He should need to breathe. Just as that thought ran its course through his brain an overwhelming urge to inhale surfaced and was just barely fought down as he swam frantically for the surface, leaving the robe at the bottom of the pond. Breaking the surface gasping, and swallowing a little water despite his best efforts, he swam to the shore and flopped down on the edge regardless of the dirt; half in and half out of the water.  
  
Brown and black closed in on his vision, obscuring everything else as something exploded inside...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ami's first view of Rei was watching her stumble down the stairs weakly just as she was parking. "Oh shit!" Ami breathed softly as she hopped out of her Jeep to run and help Rei up. It had looked like a particularly nasty fall, and Rei definitely didn't look well enough to just bounce right back. "Oh God Rei, you look horrible!"  
  
"Well, thank you for stating the obvious." Rei groaned slightly but pushed herself up and collapsed in the Jeep. She grinned at Ami then, seeming to suddenly be a whole lot better; the weakness was still present, but the sickness that made her stumble seemed to be gone. "Get in. Drive. Sooner all this weakness goes away the better."  
  
Ami stared at Rei disbelievingly for a few seconds, then climbed back into the driver's seat. "So how am I supposed to know which way to go?"  
  
Rei pointed to the little black spot in the corner of Ami's rearview mirror that displayed temperature and direction. "You just keep driving the way we're facing right now. I feel much better than I have all day right now, so we must be at least facing the right way." Skeptical looks from Ami aside, Rei knew that she was a good friend, and would do what Rei asked of her... especially if that was the only way to prove that there was nothing at their destination.  
  
"How far away do you think it, wherever 'it' is, could be?" Ami started the engine and took off slowly down the street.  
  
"We'll just have to wait and see won't we?" Rei laughed weakly and settled in for a long somewhat enjoyable ride. The constant breeze from the open canopy kept the nausea from ever regaining its complete hold over her, so the ride was okay. Except when Ami had to loop around in order to go the right way again. That experience was horrifying. If they turned too far off course, the sudden nausea made her gag. Thankfully, no food ever came up with it.  
  
Eventually they wound up on a deserted stretch of highway winding its way through lonely forests. "Are we going the right way?"  
  
Rei nodded. "Just keep driving."  
  
"Okay..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A beautiful morning out in the middle of nowhere was what he woke up to. Stretching and cracking his back to work out kinks developed while sleeping against a tree, he glanced over at his companion who was lying in a pool of soft yellow sunlight. The eyes were unmoving and unblinking as they stared in the direction of the feet of the first guy. "Come on, let's get going again." He grunted while manhandling him into a standing position, mostly just to have some sort of conversation rather than to reassure the comatose guy.  
  
Stumbling around through the woods for a few hours would take a lot out of anyone, and having to carry a guy as well didn't help. So he stopped frequently to rest or even just to admire a particularly nice plant. His robe helped keep mosquitoes away and kept him from getting scratched up by random branches, so he didn't complain as the heat generated by walking was trapped next to his skin. Shuffling to a stop for what seemed like the fifth time in the past hour; he laid the other guy down and crouched in the middle of the clearing.  
  
His dulled mind took a while to process the surroundings. His own somewhat ragged breathing was the only noise audible in the forest at all. It creeped him out, the silence, so he glanced at his surroundings paranoid, looking for anything to explain the abnormality.  
  
Two thunderous cracks reached his ears almost simultaneously as pain instantly exploded all down his right side. Clutching at the spot instinctively, he distantly noted blood already pooling and soaking into the ground. A crashing noise sounded from behind. "Oh shit!" he heard a deep voice curse in a horrified tone behind him.  
  
"I don't think we just bagged deer James." A strong pair of arms caught him as he fell backwards, breathing almost inaudibly.  
  
"Fuck!! Call 911!"  
  
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Rei's head swiveled to her left and fixated on a point somewhere behind Ami's vision. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what? How can you hear anything over the wind?"  
  
"I thought I heard a gunshot."  
  
Ami gave Rei a sideways glance. "Well it is hunting season." Her hands tightened slightly on the wheel. They had been driving for about two hours with no sign of stopping, and she was getting annoyed. Maybe this whole thing was a wild goose chase. Enemies hadn't appeared for at least two years now, and Ami actually had things she needed to do. But Rei had asked for her help, and Ami wasn't about to ruin a friendship over something that required her to check it out anyways. Just because there were no enemies did not mean her duty to her princess was completed.  
  
Rei's sullen silence slowly interrupted her thoughts. "Rei? Crap!!!" Rei suddenly started twitching in her chair, obviously having fallen unconscious a while ago. Ami pulled over in a hurry to try to restrain her from injuring herself against the door or choking herself in the seatbelt. She lowered the seat into a reclining position and tried to help Rei stay still. But Rei didn't need her help. Almost as soon as Ami reclined her chair Rei's convulsions ceased, leaving a sweat-drenched and very pale Rei breathing heavily in her seat. Ami scrambled with her seatbelt in order to get a better look at Rei. "Shh, you're okay now, don't try and move Rei I just want to check your pulse."  
  
Rei mumbled something about needing to go off the road, but Ami made her lie there quietly while she checked her pulse. "Okay, it's a little slow. I think you lost blood flow for a bit there and had a particularly bad fainting spell which triggered a minor seizure." Rei started protesting and her mouth hung open weakly in shock. "No, no you're okay now Rei. Nothing to worry about, you're just fine; you just got a little too pained and it had a bad effect. But your color is returning a little slow." Ami dug around in her backseat and opened a bottle of water and grabbed a bag of goldfish she kept for a snack. She offered them to Rei, who had managed to sit up. "Those ought to help a little." Of course, everything was not perfectly fine, but when is it ever? Ami was seriously freaked out. Her friend had just had what seemed like a minor neurally mediated syncopetic seizure in the seat next to her. Sure, they just meant that the blood flow had gotten strained and cut off, but seeing her friend twitch out of control like that was scary even for an experienced med student.  
  
"We passed it." Rei gasped out.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We passed where I'm supposed to go. The pain was triple what it was before. I think that's what made me faint." Ami nodded. It seemed like an explanation. Of course, another one was that Rei was just sick and she was dreaming this up to not make herself seem so pathetic. "Can you take me back around? Slow this time."  
  
Ami just grinned ruefully and first checked Rei's pulse again and her color. She still looked a little pale, but she wasn't shaking anymore and her pulse was normal. "Sure." Ami started the engine and quickly did a u- turn.  
  
"Stop! Stop here!" Ami pulled over onto the side of the road and stopped the Jeep again.  
  
"There's just woods here." Ami put her keys in her pocket and jumped out to help Rei out. Rei tried to shrug off her arm, but ended up steadying herself on Ami anyways.  
  
"Its in there..." And Rei took off through the woods beating her own trail before Ami could catch her. Ami rolled her eyes and ran to catch up, knowing that she couldn't just let Rei take off onto her 'quest' alone in the woods.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ami!!!" Rei's voice drifted back from pretty far ahead in the woods.  
  
"Where ARE you?!" Ami yelled back, looking in the direction she thought the shout had come from.  
  
"Over here!" The yell came from her left, and Ami took off at a run, trying not to stumble and hurt something in the process. She burst into a secluded clearing, ready to launch into a tirade aimed at Rei for just taking off like that, but was brought up short by the scene before her. Rei was kneeling over a robed figure crumpled on the luscious grass. "What the........" 


End file.
